1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to audio systems for motorcycles.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
The present invention relates to an improved method of mounting a speaker system to motorcycles of all types, especially motorcycles with windshields. Current motorcycle speaker systems can be grouped into four categories:                1. Fairing mounted: A custom fiberglass windscreen mounted to the front forks of motorcycle. A car stereo is mounted in the center of the fairing and speakers are mounted in cutouts on either side of the fairing. These systems are only available on large factory touring motorcycles and are expensive and not available for the average sized cruiser motorcycle. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,915,187, to Nakashima et al.; and 4,600,208, to Morishima.        2. Handlebar mounted: A housing that consists of a car stereo and speakers mounted on either side of the stereo unit. The whole unit mounts to the center of motorcycles handlebars. This handlebar mounted system is bulky and blocks the rider's center view of the road. It also clutters the area around the handlebars and detracts from the overall styling of the motorcycle. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,350, to Jolin. Another variation consists of a radio receiver mounted between a pair of mirror mounted speakers. This variation mounts to the center of the handlebars with the speakers mounted in the mirrors on either end of the handlebars. These systems utilize very small speakers which when mounted in a mirror type frame, do no produce adequate volume of sound to be heard at highway speeds, and the added weight to the mirror assembly adds unwanted vibrations to the mirrors causing a distorted view to the rider. Examples are U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,228, to Bruni and U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2003/0142422, to Spitzer et al.        3. Gas tank mounted: A portable housing that consists of a car stereo unit and speakers that are easily attached and detached from a motorcycles gas tank. These harnessed based portable systems require that the systems be removed from the motorcycle when it is left unattended while traveling. This requires the operator to transport the system wherever he/she goes. If the system is left mounted to the motorcycle when unattended by the owner, it is susceptible to theft. The system is also bulky and detracts from the overall styling of the motorcycle when mounted. Examples are U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,779, to Eggert et al. and U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2004/0040992, to Batchelor.        4. Windshield mounted: The system mounts to the horizontal and/or vertical supports brackets of the windshield. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,121, to Stanberry et al. This system is bulky and blocks the rider's center view of the road. The speaker enclosures do not provide sufficient volume to reproduce the bass frequencies of the audio. A low frequency blocker capacitor must be used to minimize low end distortion of the audio at higher volume settings thus limiting the overall frequency range of the system.        
The advantages to the present invention include: (1) The bracketed speakers mount on left and right sides of the motorcycle windshield do not block the riders center view of the road; (2) The small footprint of each bracketed speaker assembly is functional and attractively packaged; (3) The volume each speaker enclosure of this system is matched to the parameters of the speaker to accurately reproduce the full audio range of the speaker with minimal distortion; (4) The speaker enclosure system is ideally suited for compact/portable audio devices such as MP3, XM Radio, and CD Players which can be easily mounted the motorcycles handlebars—the audio devices can be easily removed and transported by the operator when the motorcycle is left unattended; (5) The speakers are powered by a compact audio amplifier that can be mounted almost anywhere on the motorcycle; and (6) The chrome/polished aluminum finish of the bracket mounted speakers complements any motorcycle.